All-time medal leaders

All-time medal leaders

Lochte stood on the deck, waving his arms. Dwyer and Berens pumped their fists. And Phelps touched the wall for his first gold of the London Games with a cumulative time of 6 minutes, 59.70 seconds.

No one else was close. France's Yannick Agnel swam a faster final leg than Phelps, but it wasn't nearly good enough, his country taking silver in 7:02.77. China was far back in third at 7:06.30.

Phelps might have backed into the record a bit by failing to win any of his first three events at these games, but there's no denying his legacy as one of the greatest Olympians ever -- if not THE greatest.

Phelps has 15 golds in his career, six more than anyone else, to go along with two silvers and two bronzes. After failing to medal in his only race at the 2000 Sydney Games, he won six golds and two bronzes in Athens, followed by his epic eight gold medals in Beijing. And now the swan song, not nearly as epic but enough.

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Latynina won nine golds, five silvers and four bronzes from 1956-64.

Phelps still has three more events in London before he retires, three more chances to establish a mark that will be hard for anyone to touch.

"It has been a pretty amazing career," the 27-year-old said, "but we still have a couple races to go."

This hasn't exactly been the farewell Phelps was hoping for -- a sluggish fourth-place finish in the 400 individual medley, a runner-up showing in the 4x100 free relay, then another silver in the 200 fly.

That was a race he had not lost at either the Olympics or world championships since Sydney, when he finished fifth as an unknown 15-year-old just soaking up the moment, a kid with big dreams but no idea they would turn out like this.

Phelps, after leading the entire race, tried to glide into the wall instead of taking one more stroke. Chad le Clos of South Africa took that extra stroke and beat Phelps by five-thousandths of a second.

"Obviously I would have liked to have a better outcome in the 200 fly," Phelps said. "I was on the receiving end of getting touched out. Chad swam a good race. I've gotten to know him a little over the last year. He's a hard worker, he's a tough competitor and he's a racer."

Le Clos pounded the water when he saw the "1" beside his name.

Phelps hung on the lane rope and buried his face in his hands, disgusted with himself for having squandered what looked like a sure gold. Le Clos won South Africa's second swimming gold of the games in a time of 1:52.96. Phelps finished in 1:53.01, while Japan's Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:53.21.

"It's obviously my last one," Phelps said. "I would have liked to win, but 1:53 flat isn't a terrible time. When you look at the picture of it, it's a decent time."

In the first final of the night, American Allison Schmitt won the 200 freestyle with a dominating performance that left everyone else, including teammate Missy Franklin, battling for the other medals.

Schmitt won in an Olympic-record 1:53.61. France's Camille Muffat took silver in 1:55.58, almost a body length behind, while Bronte Barrett of Australia took the bronze over Franklin by a thousandth of a second. Barrett touched in 1:55.81. Franklin, who led after the first 50, was fourth in 1:55.82.

"I was just racing," said Schmitt, who is quietly becoming one of the stars of the pool. "I knew I had to kick it. I just look at that scoreboard and see 53 and first place. I couldn't be happier."

The 17-year-old Franklin was denied her third medal of the games, one night after her gutsy victory in the 100 backstroke earned her a tweet-out from pop star Justin Bieber.

"I was trying to do the best that I can," said Franklin, who still has four more events in London. "I was in an incredible heat. I really wanted to go best time."

China's Ye Shiwen set an Olympic record to win her second gold of the London Games, adding the 200 individual medley title to a world-record performance in the 400 IM.

The 16-year-old Ye took the lead in the final lap and clocked 2:07.57, shaving 0.18 off her own mark set in Monday's semifinal. Alicia Coutts of Australia touched in 2:08.15 to take the silver medal and Caitlin Leverenz of the United States finished in 2:08.95 to take bronze.